Telegram-herald., 1887-07-03
SUN BURNED ITALY
tss PEOPLE NON AMONG Us
a Celeay Of s~sFthy fsiisss Vie ft2a
MORA An Gar Akdst-Ihs Mt<6ixse
C~axafs imP0rt.tsos FeeP&s
vho aords EhoiF wealth
aow fksy Live

Chinese sfs Of 10 beneat % the people Of
this oogatEy - long ss they rssAln thar
native customs. and the Western chirFoP
about tier being made to 90 should include
their Itslsn Orothers, Tor the natives of
sunny Italy sho come 10 this country are
ths thousands OF honest taiisrs who insess
their earnings Ia iuxuFies or necessities in
stead Of hoarding them up Ike misers-
The Italians mostly arrive Ia this c0antry
psapers and are gobbled up by railroads a.
they are capable of performing the hardest
klEd OF labor and are no trouble 10 look
after.
Grand Rapids has .hus far been
exempt from Italian cheap labor,
its population from this land Of sun
shine being limited 10 an occasional organ
grinder and the sturdy fellows-now Amer
icanized-who .selle de banan and ze pea
nut on our street corners.
The Michigan Central railroad is owned
soy a company whose wealth runs up into
the millions. but like all corporations they
are quick 10 take advantage of the offer OF
Italian labor. and about forty OF the fellows
have been put on the work tram and are
now performing section labor just below
the city. They are sturdy looking fellows,
with oronLed faces and jet black hair aud
handle a shovel IN a manner that demon
strxtes that they are accustomed 10 hard
work
The methods Of living which the Italians
adopt are not such as TO cause them 10 be
generally followed except il be by the Amer
lean tourist-k1own TO farmers and bull
dogs as tramps They live largely on rice.
like the Chinete, eat large quantities OF
bread-without butIer-and some meat.
Each one does bis own cooking. the neces-
sity of boarding cars being done away
with. They build q small ire on the
ground-much after the style of the Mex
icans-put a piece of meat on a sharp stick
and hold IL over the blaze until II Is cooked
sufficiently, dispensing with the usual bast-
ing and stutiing. They carry their food
under their arm pits, and il is
not unusual TO see them stop work for q
minute pull their knife from the pocket,
cut off piece of bread, and proceed with
their work as II nothing unusual had hap
pened.
They sleep at night in box cars, on straw
| like animals. The company offered TO pro-
| vide them with bunks and bedding. but
| they scorned such civilized offers and curl
| themselves uptin the straw and seem 10 be
happy and perfectly contented. 1t costs the
| Italians Oh an average but So a month To
| live. so plain is their food, and the balance
of their wages. LIS per day,is laid by. Thi,
laying by" process is continued until the
Italian has several hundred dollars boarded
up. when he returns TO his native land. AS
a rule they are very unsociable. They do
not take kindly TO American ways
| yet they do And comfort and revenue in
| American dollars.
As they never take any part in develop
in the way of progression and should no
be tolerated. SO long however as they dC
not come into competition with skilled
labor. they can be put up with. but a wis,
course would be to place ban upon them
as in most cases they are serfs. dependen
on the individuals who as agents advanc,
them means 70 reach this country.